Showtime's Spoiler Problem

Showtime isn't HBO, not by a long shot, but they really want to be. There's one thing they could be doing that would bring them closer to their goal, and that's not spoiling their shows before they air.

Showtime has fantastic programming, shows like "House of Lies," "Penny Dreadful," "Ray Donovan," "HAPPYish," "Nurse Jackie," "Shameless," and my favorite, "Episodes," just to name a few. The problem is that seconds before the airing of a new episode, Showtime gives you about ten seconds of highlights of the episode you are about to see, usually revealing major plot points and twists of said episode.

WTF Showtime? I'll speak to you directly now.

You do understand, Showtime, we are already tuned in, or recording via DVR, we intend to watch - there's no need to entice us to watch. We're already there. All this plot revealing preview does is ruin the show for us. Sometimes there's no point in watching after these spoiler previews. See, this is hurting you, and ruining your hard-paid-for programming for you.

Is the point that you don't want us to watch? If so, you're starting to succeed. Stop it, just stop it.

Mr. Robot

Awkward cynical cyber-security techie Elliot Rodger is also a vigilante hacker by night. Played by former child actor Rami Malek (Night at the Museums) with dreary neo-gothic hipster non-glee, he obsesses on finding the deets on anyone he has to interact with socially to make it easier, but it never does. He's creepy at first, but his mad first person narrative wins viewers over quickly.

If you think Elliot Rodger is an anarchist or nihilist wannabe with an odd sense of justice, it's only because you haven't met Christian Slater's character yet. Mr. Robot is the real anarchist and he wants to bring down the evil corporations, especially the one Elliot works for - E Corp. There's a very paranoid Big Brother vibe, and Slater is very Slater, but it works.

The pilot episode, cleverly titled "eps1.0_hellofriend.mov," was written by show creator and executive producer Sam Esmail, whose previous credits include Comet and dating Emmy Rossum from "Shameless." It's a single camera shoot interspersed with lots of stock footage and a tense score by Mac Quayle that is vaguely reminiscent of Tangerine Dream on speed.

If nothing else, this is a tale told with an intriguing storytelling style. Worth checking out. Available on several digital platforms and OnDemand right now, "Mr. Robot" officially premieres on USA June 24th.